I Have Supped Full on Horrors [reissue] (2008)

Magic Bullet has once again discovered an obscure but alluring instrumental post-rock debut, this time out of Dayton, OH of all places. Though not quite as devastating as most of what This Will Destroy You has already done, Romance of Young Tigers' I Have Supped Full on Horrors definitely provides its own moments of stifling beauty.

Romance don't seem to care much for making its crescendos too obvious or dynamic climaxes that would immediately overwhelm a listener. Instead, Horrors tends to stress the absolute limits of subtlety, filling its songs with lush layers that build ever so gently. Opener "Long Withdrawing Roar" offers a breezy example, delicately piling shimmering, rippled guitar chords for four minutes until a quick retreat and quiet electronic flourish.

The programming becomes a bit heavier in other areas. but it's still faint enough to be a beneficial piece and not the bulk of the sound (see the cuffed, controlled static of closer "Cease Silent Soft Choir"). The longest track, "We Sing Sin" (all I can think of is the Killing Tree) is carried through nearly 12 minutes with more cascading fills of guitars rimpling over each other, becoming louder and louder in such a painstakingly methodical way it's almost frustrating.

Horrors continues with "The Sound and the Fury," which starts with creepy cellar screeches and various bells interspersed, but it's set against more waves of atmosphere-setting guitars and makes for a gripping bout, until the former elements retreat and the band deceives the listener by pulling back on the crescendo and building it back up again.

It's really no wonder Romance of Young Tigers are now on their third pressing of I Have Supped Full on Horrors (this one fleshing out the excellent, awkwardly violent 1800s imagery). They have an ominous, more ambient type of post-rock that should be a comforting treat to fans of, say, Mogwai or Eluvium. It certainly isn't the most in-your-face of its kind around, but it definitely bears a foreboding soul that really takes effect once you let it sink in.